I spent eight years exhausted, bleeding and suffering pain doctors said was ‘all in my head’: I wasn’t crazy, I had severe endometriosis

Alicia Garrigos suffered from sciatic nerve pain, limited mobility, debilitating cramps and heavy bleeding for eight years before a doctor finally took a closer look at her ‘mysterious’ symptoms.

When she was 16, the Melbourne swim teacher began experiencing fatigue, acid reflux and unexplained pain, seemingly out of nowhere.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Alicia, now 20, said she went to numerous health professionals who insisted she simply needed to exercise more and change her diet if she wanted to control her heavy periods.

Now she knows her painful symptoms were due to endometriosis – a disease in which tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus and causes severe pain.

“It was really horrible having to go through all this alone,” she said. ‘I have experienced a lot of anxiety and depression. I felt like I was crazy and like it was all in my head. I kept convincing myself I was fine, but there were days I couldn’t even walk.”

Alicia’s pain was often belittled by her classmates who thought she was ‘exaggerated’ and ‘dramatic’ – but the truth came to light when a surgeon discovered lesions on her ovaries and abdominal wall.

Alicia’s symptoms started when she got her first period at age 12.

‘I always had a lot of pain and cramps, but I thought it was because I had to get used to my period.

‘My doctor prescribed me contraception when I turned 16. I’ve had the Implanon wand, taken three different pills, the Mirena IUD, and Depo, a birth control shot.

“The doctors seemed to have a strange obsession with the fact that my periods were heavier because I wasn’t thin,” she said.

‘They kept suggesting I change my diet and exercise more. They said I wasn’t eating well because I was a vegetarian and wanted me to eat meat again to get my iron up to standard. But the only reason it was low was because I was losing so much blood.

‘Now that I take two contraceptives and no longer have my period, my iron is completely fine.’

When she was 16, the Melbourne swim teacher began experiencing fatigue, acid reflux and unexplained pain, seemingly out of nowhere.

Alicia first went to a gynecologist at the age of 18 and was shocked when the man tried to talk her out of everything.

‘He said I had nothing, certainly not endometriosis, and that I was too young to have any problems. He said it was just a period and I could deal with it with birth control.

‘He hardly asked me any questions, it felt like he just wanted to get me out the door and wasn’t interested in my pain. It was painful because I paid so much to see him.

‘But I knew he was wrong. My periods were so heavy, I bled through everything. The sciatic nerve pain went all the way down my legs and I could barely move, let alone walk.’

Alicia’s pain has decreased since the surgery, but there is no future where she does not need hormonal birth control, strong painkillers and anti-inflammatories

Alicia’s mother, who is a nurse, has finally found a GP who specializes in women’s health – the first doctor to consider endometriosis.

“I was referred to a surgeon and she found lesions along my abdominal wall, Douglas pouch, ligaments and on my ovaries,” she said.

Alicia’s pain has decreased since the surgery, but there is no future in which she does not need hormonal birth control, strong painkillers and anti-inflammatories.

‘I still have nerve pain, stomach upset, severe reflux and all the other symptoms I experienced before.

‘The doctors had no way to deal with it, so I have to find my own way to deal with it, with the help of a nutritionist and over-the-counter medications. If they get worse again, I’ll probably have to have another operation.’